Lightning flashed.

I didn't wince, didn't even spare a glance at Aegis. It no longer scared me.

What did make me flinch, however, was the murderous glare in the eyes of someone who was once one of my best friends.

For the millionth time, I cursed the gods. This war had been the worst war in history. At least when we were fighting the Titans, we were all united. Now we were all fighting against each other.

World War III. The mortals had no idea what was really going on. They were all fighting each other too.

I halfheartedly thrust Riptide at Thalia. She deflected it easily.

People thought that I sided with Poseidon because he was my father. That was wrong. I sided with him because it was the right thing to do, and I agreed with what he was fighting for. I would never fight for something I didn't believe in.

So many had died. I had lost nearly all my friends. Even Nico and Annabeth was fighting on the other side. Luckily, I wasn't the one who had to kill them.

I never understood why she sided with her mom, Athena. I had tried to explain to her why I thought I was doing the right thing, but she had just shook her head, determined. "This is war, Percy."

Then she told me to stay away from her.

A lot of people had told me that.

The war had happened wnen Zeus and Hades also wanted to control the fatal flaw was power.

On our side, we had Poseidon, Hermes, and Apollo.

Aphrodite, Demeter, and Hephaesteus had stayed neutral.

Zeus' side had Athena, Ares ,Hades, Artemis and Dionysus,

We're losing. Their side has two war gods and two of the Big Three.I think everybody knew from the beginning that their side would win.

I ducked to avoid a blow aimed at my head. "Thalia," I groaned.

She shot a glare at me. "We're both doing what we have to."

She was right. If she beat me, everything I had lost, everything I had worked for, would be for nothing.

I had lost my mom. I remember how angry Poseidon was that day. We almost won the war that day, because he forced the ocean to trap the gods, and his fury kept the ocean strong enough to keep them there. They were unable to teleport out. He threatened to have them kept there in eternity if they didn't surrender. But at the last second, Zeus managed to convince Artemis and her hunters to side with him. Poseidon lost his concentration when Artemis shot an arrow that hit his arm with pinpoint accuracy.

I wasn't mad that day. I was depressed. When my mother died, I refused to fight. Instead, I sat in bed and stared at the wall. My mom had done so much for me, and in the end, her death had been my fault.

Poseidon understood that I needed some alone time, so he let me sit out for as long as I wanted. He even tried to comfort me, despite the fact that he was also feeling miserable.

Then I remembered that my mom had been pregnant with Paul's child. My unborn half-sister was also dead. The sorrow in my heart threatened to consume me, but I couldn't cry anymore. I had already used all of my tears when Annabeth tried to kill me for the first time. Talk about the ultimate break-up.

My anger came later. Three days later, I was furious with Zeus when I found out he was to blame. I stormed up to him, holding Riptide, and attacked pretty violently. He finally managed to teleport away after about five minutes. I had given him a nice gash on his arm, and a scar on his proud and smug face. I have no idea how I did it.

Zeus didn't kill Paul, Grover, or Tyson, like he had been planning to. I guess he figured it was harming him more than it was helping, since when Poseidon and I got mad, our anger made us unbeatable.

I managed to shake myself back to reality.

Thalia drew back her bow arm, and released an arrow.

My ADHD helped me see the arrow come towards me in slow motion. With barely any effort, I willed a wall of water to rise up in front of me. Then I froze the water so the arrow couldn't get through.

"Scared to face me?" I scoffed. "Would you rather shoot arrows at me from twenty feet away?"

"Of course not," she told me, pulling out a dagger instead.

She tried to get me to come closer, but there was no way I was leaving the water. I told the water to grab Thalia and bring her closer, so I wouldn't have to come to her.

"That's cheating," Thalia complained, but she wasn't looking at me.

I followed her gaze, and felt my eyes widen at the scene on my left. Our parents were having a similar battle. It was more deadly, intense, and powerful, but still similar. Zeus had made a glass dome form around them, to prevent Poseidon's reinforcements come in.I turned my focus to my battle as THalia had started to go for my throat. I willed the earth to shake.

Thalia started to fall over, but she flew off the ground before she did. I watched as she twisted and twirled in midair, just to show off, before landing neatly on the ground.

"Aren't you afraid of heights?" I asked her.

She shook her head proudly. "Not anymore. My dad took my fear away. Now it only comes back a little bit when Hades is near me."

I examined her. "What else did your father take away from you, Thalia? Did he take away the memory of our friendship so you could fight me better?"

"Shut up," Thalia grunted, before charging me, her dagger aiming for my heart.

I met her blade, midair, and tried the disarming maneuver. It didn't work on Thalia. She was too experienced. I parried, stabbed, slashed, and sliced with Riptide, but nobody was getting anywhere.

I swung Riptide at her legs. Once again, she flew up into the air to avoid me.

I leaped onto the ocean, willing the surface tension of the water to increase so that it could hold my weight. Then, I commanded the water to lift me into the air so that I was as high as she was.

Thalia's eyebrows shot up. "That's a new trick."

"Not really," I responded casually, slashing Riptide at her. "I've known it for more than a little while."

"Well, I have to admit, Percy," she said, deflecting my blade once again, and trying to slice my throat. "You're getting better."

I nodded politely, and dodged the dagger. "You too, Thalia."

Of course we'd both gotten better. How could we not have improved over the course of two years? And of course, we were fighting for our dads, so they obviously allowed us a bit more control than we would normally have.

Then the wind became stronger. It pushed me off my column of water.

I fought the urge to yawn as I fell towards the water. Okay, even I'll admit, that's an overstatement. I think my head must be getting too big. The truth? I felt a bit of an adrenaline rush, I was a little nervous, but I wasn't freaking out or anything because I knew I would be safe. After all, the ocean was right below me. It's sort of like riding a roller coaster. You feel scared, even though you know you'll be safe.

The water cushioned my fall. I stood up, and looked around for Thalia. She was hovering a few feet above the water.

I hated it when she flew. I hated it because I knew that the Thalia I had known wouldn't have flown, ever. Even if she wasn't afraid of heights she wouldn't have flown unless she needed to. She would've found the whole thing too Peter Pan.

She flew over to the beach and landed back on the ground. I quickly swam towards her, willing the currents to push me as fast as they could.

She pushed me, hard. An electric shock went through my body, blowing me back forty feet. It reminded me of Capture the Flag for a moment, except now she had pushed me much harder.

I stood up shakily, trying to ignore the burning smell. I was angry, and I'm pretty sure that it showed on my face.

"It looks like your mother didn't teach you teach you anything, after all," she mocked. "You're supposed to control your temper, Seaweed Brain."

And that was the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. I lost it. I felt my blood boil. A wave roared in my ears. My anger was like the ocean. Both could no longer be restrained.

Hundreds of gallons of water rose up into the air on my order. Even to me, the huge floating mass of water looked intimidating.

Thalia's eyes widened. She and I both knew that the pressure of the amount of water I was about to drop on her would crush her to death.

I didn't know why, but some part of me that was even stronger than my anger refused to let that happen, even if we were fighting to the death.

I made a split-second decision right before I willed the water to fall, and I only let half of the water fall. Enough for the pressure to hurt her, but not kill her, and enough for her to get an icy bath without drowning.

Thalia's figure disappeared under the water for a minute or so as it crashed down on her.

Guilt pierced my heart for a moment, but I quickly dispelled it. I was still furious. Thalia could insult me all she wanted, but insulting my dead mother? That wasn't something I could take sitting down.

I waited a few more seconds, and then I let the water return back to the ocean.

I gave her a couple minutes to recover. I may have been pissed, but I wasn't heartless. Once it seemed like she could fight again, I stepped towards her while she was down, and I slashed with Riptide.

Thalia rolled out of the way, but not before I managed to get a swipe at her arm. She clutched her bleeding wound, and her electric blue eyes flashed dangerously.

She struggled to her feet, a look of concentration upon her face.

That couldn't be good.

I breathed in deeply, waiting for something to happen, maybe for lightning to smite me where I stood, but it didn't come.

Thalia was just watching me.

Then after a few seconds, I figured out what she was doing. I was breathing, but no oxygen was going into my lungs. I could tell because my brain started screaming at me, telling me to do whatever it would take to find some air.

Thalia had taken the oxygen out of the air where I was standing.

"I wouldn't breathe in if I were you," she told me, her voice still hoarse from the water. "The only gas I left in the air for you is carbon dioxide."

I fast walked from where I was standing, wasting the precious air I had left, but it was no use. Thalia told the deoxygenated air to follow me.

Then she came towards me, dagger in hand.

There was no way I could fight now. I desperately needed oxygen.

Then it hit me. I could breathe underwater, right? So if I dove into the water, she couldn't do anything.

I took the chance, and staggered to the ocean, on the verge of passing out from lack of air. Black spots danced before my eyes.

I couldn't make it, I collapsed on the sand, and as a last effort, I clawed towards the ocean. I knew I wouldn't make it.

I could feel my heart slowing down. I closed my eyes. My brain stopped screaming for oxygen, and accepted its fate.

If there was one thing that I absolutely hated, it was my friends betraying me. I didn't forgive Luke for his betrayal until the end, and I still vividly remember holding Riptide to Nico's throat when he had sold me out to his father when I went to take a dip in the Styx.

That made me angry, which made me determined.

My eyes snapped open. I wasn't going to let this be the end.

With every last ounce of energy I possessed, I weakly willed the water to flow over me.

Somehow, the ocean obeyed, and the water rushed over me.

I instantly breathed the water in deeply, praying that it would work.

It did. My chest ached painfully with the sudden return of oxygen. I swore to myself that I would never take air for granted again.

I decided to will the water to cover my whole body, like a second skin. The water was clear, so she wouldn't notice it, but I would still have water if I needed it.

I walked out of the water briskly, preparing to unleash my fury on Thalia, but she quickly engaged me in an intense sword-fight. I had the upper hand (thanks to the water), but it was still close.

Thalia grazed my upper arm at one point. I winced, but luckily, the water instantly flowed into the cut, healing it for me.

At first Thalia looked confused. Then she seemed to realize that I had water around me and she looked-triumphant?

She put her dagger down and walked towards me.

Thalia placed a hand on my shoulder, her dagger ten feet away.

I tensed for a moment, before relaxing under her touch. I lowered Riptide.

Looking back on it now, that was really stupid of me.

"Percy," she said. "Did you know that saltwater conducts electricity?"

"Uh, yeah," I said. "Your point?"

She smiled and tightened her grip on my shoulder.

By the time I realized what she was doing, it was too late.

I screamed as the electricity coursed through my body. I wanted to die, rather than suffer. This was worse than any electric shock, and the water, which usually did everything it, could for me, was turning against me, making the electricity worse.

It had been less than a second, but I fell to my knees, accepting my death.

Thalia lost her grip for a moment when I dropped, and I managed to hit her with the butt of my sword.

She groaned and let go of my shoulder to clutch her stomach. I used Riptide to fling her spear in to the sea, and held the point at her throat.

"Percy,"THalia croaked a pathetic expression on her face."Please don't kill me. Remember all the times we had together?"

I faltered. My fatal flaw was personal loyalty. How could I kill her in cold blood?

My sword dipped to the ground."I guess I won't", I whispered softly. Suddenly, Nico appeared beside, sword pointed at my throat .It all happened so fast.

"Surrender, Jackson," said got to her feet."I can't believe you fell for it, Kelp head."

I growled."It was all planned by Athena, wasn't it? Using my fatal flaw against me."

I twisted my head to the side, seeing how things were going with my dad, and whether he could rescue me.

.This couldn't be happening. I rushed to the edge of the dome. He was lying on his side, unconcoius, and golden ichor flowing in many places. Zeus started chanting, saying some stuff about banishing my father to Tartarus.

Poseidon's eyes flickered, and he tossed a trident amulet to me. He shimmered once and disappeared.

"NO! DAD! Come back!"I sobbed, tears streaming down my checks, hands clawing at the dome.

I turned. Nico and Thalia stood at my back, their weapons up defensively.

"Get away from me, "I snarled. There must have been a feral look in my eyes as they backed away. I scooped up the amulet, holding it to my heart.

Zeus turned his attention to me."Kill the !"Thalia and Nico started to go towards me. Left with no other choice, I stuffed the amulet in my pocket, and ran into the mist.